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This morning, an Act of Parliament was passed dissolving the Crown Dependency of Axvalley while annexing two new Towns, Jovanovo and Ionisia.

Axvalley, a farming estate bordered by Brazil, had joined the Empire in February 2013, one of the first of the great territorial expansions that Austenasia had seen under Emperor Jonathan I. As a Crown Dependency, Axvalley functioned with complete autonomy under its Governing Commissioner, Rubens Machado.

However, after four and a half years under Austenasian sovereignty, the people of Axvalley decided that they wished to return to Brazil. Their right to political self-determination being respected, legislation was drawn up to dissolve the Crown Dependency.

However, at the same time, the government received requests from two other places to be annexed as Towns.

The first, Jovanovo, consists of two rural properties bordered by Montenegro, measuring nine and a half acres. The second, Ionisia, is comprised of a residential property on the Greek island of Samos.

Jovanovo and Ionisia have populations of twelve and three, respectively, and are both wholly Orthodox Christian in the religious composition of their residents.

Ionisia is home to Prince Aggelos of Imvrassia, who has been appointed Acting Representative of the new Town.

These latest changes leave the Empire of Austenasia with a population of 84, and a land area of roughly eighty one acres.

Thanasia (L) and Porthbokon (R), two of the Towns which were yesterday ceded back to the United Kingdom.

At 9:00 am Wrythe time yesterday morning, an Act of Parliament was passed ceding the Towns of Zephyria, Thanasia and Porthbokon back to the United Kingdom.

Zephyria, which was the first inhabited territory to join the Empire outside of Wrythe, was annexed in April 2009. As the residential property of which it is comprised is soon to be rented out by the Town’s residents – the family of Lord Marshal William – while they move to another property, it was considered best that it no longer be part of Austenasia. However, Zephyria’s former population of three have retained their status as Austenasian subjects.

Thanasia and Porthbokon have both been ceded absolutely, with their populations also having lost their Austenasian nationality. Thanasia was ceded by the request of its population, whereas Porthbokon was ceded unilaterally by the government due to it having been unable to contact its Representative, Lady Evren, for over a year.

Two non-residential subjects, contactable only via Thanasia, have also had their status as such revoked.

Speaking earlier to Parliament, Prime Minister Lord Admiral Joseph Kennedy stated that the cessions “should not be misinterpreted as a sign of the Empire stagnating. The Government is working on a series of reforms that will soon be presented, and first among those reforms is guaranteeing that the House of Representatives will be comprised of active Representatives who will actually partake in the governance of our beloved Empire.”

The House of Representatives now has six instead of nine members. The three towns which have been ceded rarely voted, meaning that legislation required near unanimity of all voting rather than a simple majority; with the three less active towns gone, the legislature should become far more efficient.

Despite one third of the Empire’s Towns having been ceded, less than a tenth – 9.75% – of Austenasia’s population has been lost. Of even less magnitude has been the effect on the Empire’s land area, with Zephyria, Thanasia and Porthbokon together having comprised a mere 0.21% of Austenasian territory.

One demographic effect of this has been to push the proportion of Christians in the Austenasian population into the majority, from 49% to 54%, with both Thanasia and Porthbokon having been entirely atheist.

The total population of the Empire now stands at seventy four people, including thirteen non-residential subjects.

An Act of Parliament was passed this morning which ceded some areas of New Richmond to the United States of America whilst annexing some to it back from the USA.

North New Richmond and the western half of Saint Josephsburg were ceded to the USA, while two new areas of land were annexed to New Richmond. These two new areas are yet to be named by its town council.

As a result of these changes, New Richmond (and therefore the Empire as a whole) has made a net gain of roughly 23,895 square feet and a net loss of one resident.

New Richmond is set to gain the status of a city on 9 January next year, meaning that they will elect a Mayor in their next local election.

The Home Office has released an updated overview of the religious affiliations of the Austenasian population.

The last time this information was publically released was in August 2014. Since then, the percentage of the population that is Christian has risen from 46% to 48%, and the percentage that follows no religion has fallen from 38% to 26%.

Also included is “Unknown”, for the five members of the population who have not been asked or preferred not to answer.

Out of Austenasia’s population of eighty four, between fifty seven and sixty two (taking into account the “unknowns”) – 68-74% – are religious.

Out of the Empire’s Christians, there are four Orthodox, six Roman Catholics, one Anglican, six Methodists, eight Pentecostals, thirteen other Protestants, and three Mormons.

After Christianity, the two largest religions in the Empire are Sunni Islam and Hinduism, both with five adherents.

A digital portrait of Lord Charles Clarke, whose departure from Austenasia has resulted in two areas of the Empire being made ungovernable.

Stringent restrictions were introduced in regards to the Empire claiming new land this morning after Austenasian sovereignty over the town of Lichtenstein and the crown dependency of Heischierland was abandoned due to a single person wishing to leave the Empire.

Lord Charles Clarke – also known by a variety of pseudonyms throughout his political career – became an Austenasian in June 2013 after offering the then Territory of Emperorsland to Austenasia.

Emperorsland expanded in 2014, annexing a neighbouring house inhabited by Lord Charles and his family, to become the Town of Lichtenstein. Later that year, the family’s holiday home was annexed as the Crown Dependency of Heischierland.

Lord Charles has been an Austenasian official for over three years, and held four Cabinet positions at varying times. However, after announcing that he no longer wished to be a part of the Empire, the government found itself forced to cede Lichtenstein and Heischierland after losing the only person who was able to administer them.

In the Act of Parliament passed this morning which ceded said land, tough new regulations have been introduced to prevent any future annexations of land which could be rendered ungovernable by the departure of a single person.

From henceforth, any offers of land to the Empire must be approved by the Home Secretary before being considered by Parliament.

The Home Secretary must ascertain (amongst other criteria) that more than one person is willing to administer the offer of land, and that the majority of any inhabitants wish (rather than just consent, as was the case with Lord Charles’ family) to become Austenasians.

With the loss of the two areas of land administered by Lord Charles, the Empire’s population has dropped by three to 84.

H.E. Professor Sanjib Bhattacharya has been made a non-residential subject of Austenasia, raising the Empire’s population to 88.

Since August last year, Professor Bhattacharya has served as Austenasia’s Ambassador-at-Large for the States bordering India, as well as Consul-General at Mumbai.

He was instrumental in the appointment of the Empire’s incumbent ambassadors to Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka, and has worked hard to increase awareness of Austenasia online and in his local community.

In gratitude for his hard work for the publicity and diplomatic advancement of Austenasia, Professor Bhattacharya was granted Austenasian nationality in an Act of Parliament passed yesterday.

As well as working as an Austenasian diplomat, Professor Bhattacharya is also the CEO of an award-winning translation service.

Non-residential subjectship of Austenasia is held primarily by governors of uninhabited land. The granting of it by Parliament to others is a rare honour.

An Act of Parliament was passed yesterday morning which saw two new Crown Dependencies join Austenasia.

The first, Imperia, consists of a residential property bordering India. Imperia’s five residents – one of whom, Ketan Uzagi, has been appointed its Governing Commissioner – have raised the Austenasian population to eighty six people.

With the annexation of Imperia, Austenasia now has land on every continent of the world except for Antarctica.

The second Crown Dependency to have joined the Empire yesterday was Esmondia, named after the former Emperor Esmond III. This new addition is bordered by Argentina, and administered by Tarek Kârjasary.

In December last year, Kârjasary established the Crown Dependency of Achem, but in August moved from his former home to Argentina, making government of Achem impossible. Esmondia has therefore been founded to replace it, with Achem dissolved yesterday.